(MENAFN- Jordan Times) Corruption reflects a failure to adhere to social values, experts and officials said at a forum on Monday, and every segment of the state and society is responsible for ending it.
Over 126 experts, officials and anti-corruption activists gathered in Amman on Monday for the first day of the two-day World Anti-Corruption Forum, during which they discussed the roles various institutions play in combating the practice.
Adviser to the International Anti-Corruption Academy Suzanne Hayden said "cultural corruption" - i.e., a decline in values - is a cause of corrupt behaviour, but not a justification for it, urging civil society to take responsibility in the fight against corruption.
In his address to the forum, Senate President Taher Masri said that corrupt activities such as the abuse of public funds originate among high-ranking state officials, with the collusion of the private sector.
Noting that combating corruption is part of the Kingdom's reform programme, Masri said a lack of legislative and judicial barriers to corruption were the main obstacles to realising this ambition.
Jordan has exerted huge efforts to eliminate the impact of corruption on its national economy and established several agencies and public sector organisations to help in the fight against corruption, he noted.
Former senator Laila Sharaf, head of the forum's preparatory committee, pointed to the risk of development slowing down due to growing corruption in the developing world.
Sharaf said parents and teachers must take responsibility for teaching children values that steer them away from corruption.
The forum includes several sessions focused on ways different sectors can contribute to fighting graft.
At a session titled "Legislators: The First Line of Defence", lawmakers from Jordan, Turkey, Morocco and Palestine discussed ways to use their legislative powers to prevent corruption.
During the second session, "The Effective Role of Academia and Professional Institutions in Corruption Detection", speakers addressed ways to motivate universities and professional institutions to play a proactive role in understanding and detecting corruption.
During its second day, the forum will hold sessions on the roles civil society, the private sector, the media and governments should play.
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